KTM UK’s Official Youth MX Team – The Judd Orange Brigade – headed to Little Silver in Exeter at the weekend to begin their 2020 campaign, at Round 1 of the JUDD KTM British Youth Championships.
The 125’s kicked off proceedings with Preston Williams showing why he’s the reigning ACU 125 British Youth Champion! A perfect start to the 2020 season saw him go 1-1 for the Round 1 Win! Last year’s Rookie 125 Runner Up #711 Louie Kessell was also right in the hunt for championship honours again with consistent 3-3 results for 3rd place on the podium! Next up were the Auto’s and with only one race to compete in due to weather restrictions Riley-Ray Barrow made it count with an excellent 2nd place finish. New to this year’s team and at only 6 years old, rookie Harry Dale rocketed through the auto’s to Qualify 2nd fastest and finished 8th in his first ever National!
Former 2019 Auto British Champion Robbie Daly moved up to the 65’s this year and made an immediate impact by qualifying 4th! Some excellent results of 6-7 gave him an overall of 6th place. Team mate Zane Stephens #80 was back and improving as the day went on scoring 10-6 to finish 8th, with fellow 65 rider #101 Archie Britton qualifying 5th, and finishing 12th for the weekend with a 14-10 card.
It was Ben Mustoe #163 and McKenzie Marshall #555 who led the line in the Big Wheel 85’s category. Both rookie riders gave it their all with Ben Mustoe finishing 7th with a brace of 8 place results. McKenzie Marshall showed great intent but an off in R1 left him with a 24th before rallying in R2 for 9th and 14th overall.
With Will Haddock side lined with a fractured arm, it was all up to rookie #14 Freddie Gardiner to tackle the SW85’s. As Race 1 started he was in the top five before a major pile up just after the hole shot put him almost last. However a great come back ensued with the gutsy rider flying up the race positions to 9th. Race 2 had another good start running 3rd before an off meant another valiant fight back up the pack to 14th and 11th overall.
All in all a great start from the whole team in challenging circumstances. Weather conditions meant that day 2 was cancelled, but the remaining races for all categories will be ran throughout the forthcoming rounds, starting at Round 2 at Rhyader on the 16th & 17th May. We can’t wait, and we’d like to wish a speedy recovery to our two injured team riders Will Haddock and Bailey Johnston, who’ll hopefully be back for the next round!
Thank you for the support of our fantastic sponsors, who are the best in the business:
KTM UK
Judd Racing UK
Talon Engineering Ltd
MOTOREX – Oil of Switzerland
SpiralGFX
WP Suspension
Acerbis Motorsport
Maxxis Tyres (UK)
RK Takasago Chain
